Burg Lahr

Burg Lahr is a small ruined castle above the village of Burglahr in the Altenkirchen district of Rheinland-Pfalz. It sits on a wooded hill that rises about forty metres above the Wied river. The hill once stood on an island between three arms of the river, but the river has since shifted its course and now flows south of the site. The round tower still stands nearly twenty-five metres high after recent restoration work. Only fragments of walls and foundations remain of the rest of the castle. The castle first appears in records in the 14th century as a holding of the counts of Isenburg under the archbishop of Cologne. It was probably much older. In 1449 the archbishop pledged the castle to Count Henry of Nassau, and over the following centuries it passed through many hands. By the 18th century it had fallen into ruin and was later used as a quarry. Serious efforts to preserve what was left began only in the 20th century. Visitors walk among the remains of curtain walls and defensive ditches that once encircled the hilltop. The restored round tower offers a vantage point over the surrounding countryside. Inside the ruins a new wooden hut can be hired for small events. The site is quiet, shaded by the trees that cover the hill, and the Wied valley below.